Alwaght- South Africa’s government on Thursday slammed a tweet by US President Donald Trump in which he said he ordered Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to study efforts to overhaul land ownership and “large scale killing of farmers” in the country.
“South Africa totally rejects this narrow perception which only seeks to divide our nation and reminds us of our colonial past,” the government said in a message from its official Twitter account Thursday morning. “South Africa will speed up the pace of land reform in a careful and inclusive manner that does not divide our nation.”
State broadcaster SABC news reported that the government would ask the US Embassy in Pretoria for clarification on the tweet.
The ruling African National Congress has said it plans to change the constitution to explicitly allow the expropriation of land without compensation in an effort to overcome deep inequalities in land ownership the country, which shed white-minority rule in 1994. White South Africans, who make up around 8% of the country’s population, still own 73% of agricultural land, according to estimates from farmers association Agri SA.
President Cyril Ramaphosa and other ANC officials have said any expropriations would be handled with care to avoid eroding property rights, food security and agricultural production.
Answering questions on land-reform efforts in Parliament Wednesday, Ramaphosa criticized South African interest groups who he said “are going around spreading lies and rumors.”
“Running overseas and saying the ANC is out for land grabs. There is no such thing,” he told lawmakers. “The ANC wants to ensure that there is land reform that is going to lead to the growth of our economy and agricultural growth and if we embrace this approach we are going to restore the dignity of our people."
Meanwhile, Ramaphosa’s spokesperson Khusela Diko said in a statement that the US president had been “misinformed” regarding the plan, saying that the South African government would “take up the matter through diplomatic channels.”
Trump’s tweet apparently followed a segment on conservative Fox News television channel that said “South African Government is now seizing land from white farmers.”
Under South African law, land owners would also have the right to challenge any government action to take away land without compensation in court.
